I talked a couple of weeks ago with a coach about the new rule that allows for summer "practice" hours.

"We're not going out there in pads or anything," he said, "but we can add a couple of hours watching film. It's a good thing, but it's not a game-changer or anything like that. In fact, we have to kind of figure out our [personal] schedules to make it work."

From that, rule or no rule, we learn that the summer is still the slowest time in the college football calendar. But there are still the same potential benefits for eager players interested in improving on their own time.

There is a particular opportunity for quarterbacks, who often organize and lead the summer 7-on-7 sessions. That period can prove helpful for QBs in a variety of career stations. Here are 10 QBs who could benefit most from strong summer months, leading into preseason camp.

Have you caught yourself thinking, "For a dude who has never taken a meaningful snap, we sure talk a lot about Jacob Coker?" Even Bama fans might admit to that. (OK, maybe not.)

I guess it is mere reality when you're replacing a QB who won multiple titles for what is currently the most visible college football program on the planet.

Nick Saban has started to tamp down Coker's legend, and understandably, but anyone who has seen the skill sets of those other Tide QBs knows that Coker has the best chance to be the starter for the opener against West Virginia.

Why is this summer important? Because he's actually in Tuscaloosa, having completed his academic work at FSU.

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ABOUT THIS BLOG

Travis Haney

Travis Haney joined ESPN in April 2012 as Insider's national college football writer. He previously covered the University of Oklahoma Sooners for The (Oklahoma City) Oklahoman for one season, and the University of South Carolina Gamecocks for The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier for four. Additionally, Haney has contributed since 2003 to ESPN publications and projects, including ESPN The Magazine.

A native of Cleveland, Tenn., Haney's initial introduction to a college football cathedral was Neyland Stadium. He later graduated from the University of Tennessee, in 2003, and has spent time covering the Volunteers, the University of Georgia, Clemson University, and other schools. Safe to say, football, and football in the South, was injected into his bloodstream at a young age.

Haney is the author of three books -- Gamecock Glory and Gamecock Encore, which chronicled the South Carolina baseball team's run to the 2010 and 2011 national championships, and State of Disunion, a historical look at the Clemson-South Carolina football rivalry that he co-wrote with Larry Williams.